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N.L. East Standings
Offensive Game of the Week: Adam LaRoche 6/20 vs. Rockies – 3-for-4, 2 RBI, 3B, R
Pitching Line of the Week: Jordan Zimmermann 6/20 vs. Rockies – 8 IP, R, 0 ER, 6 H, BB, 9 S)
Top Storylines
Bryce Harper’s recovery – Harper is continuing his road back from left knee bursitis, but could make significant strides this week. He is expected to make a minor league rehab assignment with the Potomac Nationals on either Wednesday or Thurdsay and could set himself up for a return early next week. How he progresses through his minor league appearances should be interesting to watch. Harper wants to play six or seven games to get his timing back, but Davey Johnson may want to promote him sooner.
Fifth starter situation – With Dan Haren headed to the disabled list, the Nationals have to make a decision on who will replace him in the rotation. Johnson said they will make a choice on Tuesday with a good possibility it comes from the minor leagues. Will Taylor Jordan get a shot? Will Nathan Karns be back up? What about Danny Rosenbaum? We'll see who Johnson goes with.
Jayson Werth’s groin - Werth left Sunday’s game against the Rockies after pulling his groin on a play in the outfield and later aggravating it running to first. He says he does not expect to have an MRI or miss much time, but we’ve heard that same story this season from other Nationals players. Werth has already missed significant time due to a right hamstring injury that he recently returned from. He is by no means the Nationals’ best offensive player, but he clearly makes a difference when in the lineup.
Quote of the Week
Werth on the Nats’ needing to establish their identity:
"People that drown in it and people that take it home and allow it to eat at them and all that don't usually last too long. They don't stick around. That's all part of being a big-leaguer. You've just got to do it. You've got to show up tomorrow ready to eat somebody's face."
Tweet of the Week
Can't wait to get back to eat face! #nats pic.twitter.com/Eo2RnHSwIj
— Bryce Harper (@Bharper3407) June 20, 2013
Road Ahead
Mon. – OFF
Tue. – 7:05 p.m. vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (Gonzalez)
Wed. – 7:05 p.m. vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (Zimmermann)
Thu. – 4:05 p.m. vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (Strasburg)
Thu. – 4:05 p.m. vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (Strasburg)
Fri. – 7:05 p.m. at New York Mets (TBD)
Sat. – 1:10 p.m. at New York Mets (Detwiler)
Sun. – 1:10 p.m. at New York Mets (Gonzalez)
Sat. – 1:10 p.m. at New York Mets (Detwiler)
Sun. – 1:10 p.m. at New York Mets (Gonzalez)
81 comments:
It will likely be Olendorph (sp). But I would like to see Taylor Jordan getting the assignment. Definitely not Rosenbaum or Karns.
ptindc said...
My AT&T service at the park sucks.
_______________________
Once the stadium gets to 30,000 or more the phone coverage gets spotty. A little trick is to restart your phone.
Adam Wainwright felt like Strasburg last night. Gave up 1 earned and an unearned scored on his record and the Cardinals lose 2-1 and Waino took the loss.
I know we get frustrated with our team, but if you follow baseball in general, this has been just a weird and wacky season so far. Totally unpredictable. The Marlins own the World Series champs for goodness sake, and the team with Trout, Hamilton and Pujols can't win. Even with all the howling and growling, I do think the second half will be better. The Barves are not untouchable.
Swami: I think its one of the great things about sport. You can't ever predict what is going to happen. I am not trying to argue here but the people that put up notes about how other "good" teams have lost to other "bad" teams doesn't make me feel any better about MY TEAM. Right now I care about two things. I care that the Nationals win and I care that the Braves lose. That's it. I don't care if Morse is on the dl, I don't care if Wang is pitching well for the Jays, I don't care about EJax. I don't mind hearing about other stories and love pretty much everything there is about our game but the only things I care about are us winning and the Braves losing.
On a totally unrelated note, I think 222 asked about whether I coached Mick. I am old but I am not ancient!! Not going to give out Mick's age but no I did not coach Mick. I coached Division 1 swimming and played around with summer stuff at the country club level to allow me & my family a chance to actually eat 3 meals a day and live under a roof. I met Mick during the summer league stuff and he never actually saw me explode on my college kids, I had to be nice to the little ones. Just imagine the difference between Gary Williams at a college practice or in his camps.
Probably way too much information but he asked.
Acquisition of the Bryce Harper bobblehead yesterday brings my personal collection to over 20. I think the only ones I don't have are the Chad Cordero and Screech bobbles issued in 2006. Shelf space in my house is at a premium, so yesterday's acquisition also necessitated a roster move. Danny Espinosa has now been moved to the Shelf of Shame where he shares space with the likes of Nyjer Morgan and Jose Guillen. Hard to believe that Espinosa was actually the fan's choice bobblehead in 2011. (Admittedly a weak field that year. As I recall, one of those he beat out for the honor was Jim Riggleman. WTF?) But oh how the mighty have fallen.
Lets hope...to quote a song...that the second verse is not the same as the first. I really do think/wish/believe/hope..whatever word works, that the Nats will be a different team the second half of the season. Having 34 back and straightening out the 5th starter slot should go a long ways to righting the wrongs of the first half. Fins Up...go NATS.
Every team has a winning streak. The Blue Jays (whose season seemed like a lost cause a month ago), the Fish, even Houston. Look at the streak the Nats were in when Riggleman got fired.
The trick is to hold on near .500--i.e., NOT have long losing streaks-- until this combo happens
(a) other teams' pitchers have a run of bad games
(b) our pitchers have a string of good games
(c) we are moderately healthy
(d) we get enough offense.
Right now, we've been somewhat on the other side of that combo. Even when our pitchers have done well, either the other pitcher is better or we don't get the offense, etc.
Now that Haren is on the DL, however, I would worry about Detwiler. His three games since his return from the DL have not been great. Combined 14.2 IP with ERA of 8.59. Yes, it's true that he's had bad luck as shown by a BABIP of .385 (the bloops and broken bat donks are falling where fielders ain't).
Continuing--on the good side, Det has only walked 1 and struck out 9 (and given up just the 2 HRs, the ones yesterday). But we need him to be the pre-DL Detwiler now.
In his seven starts up to May 15 (the day he came out after the 3rd inning), he was working to a 2.53 ERA, and 5+ innings each time.
308, I differ from you on my daily wondering as to how different ex-Nats are doing. It helps me to keep my faith in Rizzo.
Quote of the day, so far, comes from Tom Bozwell in this morning's Washington Post's print edition:
"When you pack the park for four days to see the Rockies, you can eat 13 million and not even belch. Now, we'll find out what the Nats order for their next course"
I really think Rizzo will go outside the organization to pick up another starting pitcher, and/or an outfielder.
JT:
To quote the song you're referencing, the nightmare would be if "everyone was a Henry."
Friends, I have a scoring question from yesterday's game:
When Lombo and Span scored in the 8th on Zim's single, the second of them (Span) scored by virtue of the error by the shortstop Rutledge. So Zimmy gets only one RBI on that hit. That's all clear to me.
Yet in the pitcher's box score, Belisle is charged with all the runs in that inning being earned. I can't work this out, since Zim's hit happened with two outs. If not for that error, the inning would've been over, yes? Or at least one of those guys on base would've been out?
Can somebody explain this to me?
Monday's tidbits:
- In 10 games in a row against the Cardinals, Diamondbacks, and Giants, the Marlins went 7-3. Going into yesterday's game, the Marlins and the Astros both had winning records in June.
- On the flip side, the Giants are 1-6 against the Marlins and Brewers for the year.
- The 41 year old Raul Ibanez now has 17 HR's. The single-season record for a player age 41+ is 29, set in Ted Williams’ final season in 1960.
- Going into the ninth, the Angels led the Pirates 6-3. Going into the bottom of the 10th, the Pirates led 10-6. The game ended with the score 10-9 on a Mike Trout out with runners on 2d and 3rd.
- Matt Harvie has a 2.44 ERA in his last 12 starts (!). And is only 3-1.
- Eight MLB players have seven or more home runs this month. Nobody on Kansas City has more than six all year.
- Brewers' pitchers have a higher batting average (.214) than their first basemen (.180).
- Speaking of Brewers' pictching: Tom Gorzelanny (hitting .500 -- ok, he's 1-2) has the third best WHIP on the entire team (pitching more than 20 innings).
Good Morning Folks... So I wonder if we have enough to get Lee... Like trade Haren, maybe Garcia, and another prospect... Im not sure we really have too many farm folks that worth it...
Just an idea of course...
Why doesn't Davey start Detweiler Friday on normal rest in light of Monday's off day. Then the replacement won't have to start until Saturday. I also vote for Ohlendorf. He is a known quantity and has done very well. Sure he is valuable as a long guy in the bullpen, but he is much more valuable as a fifth starter. How often do we have to use our long guy in the bullpen? Surely we have someone in the minors who is better suited to that role than to our fifth starter.
If not for that error, the inning would've been over, yes? Or at least one of those guys on base would've been out?
Might it be that the scorer felt the error caused the extra base, but that without the error, the runner wouldn't have gone and no out would have been made. And that subsequent hits would have caused him to score anyway, so it's still charged to the pitcher.
Yeah, I know, don't call me "Surely".
Tidbits continued . . . .
And, for the year, the Cubs' cleanup position now finally has more RBI's (32) than batters batting 9th for them (30).
Love your tid-bits post Wonk... Its the things that make you say... Unh.. or ahhh.. i hadnt even realized that...
Thanks, Wonk, on the scoring. That makes sense to me, having seen the play live and on the replay. The scorer did, in fact, change his mind about that between the end of the game yesterday and this morning. Originally Belisle was only charged with only 3 earned.
Mrs.B:
I'm not sure we could get Cliff Lee with Haren,Espinosa, etc. since they have little trade value. How about packaging ALR with a couple of prospects and giving Moore/Marrero a shot at 1B or moving Zimm over from 3B as many have suggested here? Rendon goes to third with Kobernus to 2B, his natural position.
Way back on our first blockbuster trade -- the Felipe Lopez, Austin Kearns deal -- we followed the players involved in the trade for a very long time. I think it is natural for fans to be wondering who got the better end of things if they let someone go or trade them. That takes a while to play out. Jackson, Morse, Lannan -- even some of our babies that we let go for Gio like Tommy Milone, are of interest to us. We always want to feel that we "won" the deal. I think that is part of why we follow them, but also we follow some players that we had a particular fondness for. I find myself wondering today if the organization will make any moves at all in the next month or just hold on and pray for the best. I would love to see another quality outfielder as I don't see Werth and Bryce staying on the field for all the games. Either that, or let Bernie play a lot and get good again.
In my observation, Det was tortured by the BABIP beast yesterday. It's been awhile since I've seen that many ground balls thread the needle through the infielders like that.
(Sure, he gave up a couple of Haren-like dingers, but with some luck that could've been most of the damage.)
It wall makes sense, NJ. But like I said, it seems like the official scorer had to work out the logic of it overnight as well. So I don't feel quite as dumb as I sometimes do in these matters.
Wow. Danny Espinosa now has 24 strike outs in 40 AB's in Syracuse. That is a 60% ratio. Yikes!
Dave -- I think people have forgotten that the Rockies are one of the best hitting teams in baseball -- I think you could see why. Yes, they singled him to death with stuff that just dropped or got through, but they also have a good approach and make contact. Hope the line up was watching. We held them down for a couple of games, but they were bound to break through. The thing I saw that worried me was Det getting rattled. He used to do that last year sometimes and then he seemed to channel his inner swagger. I want the Det with the mound presence of the WBC game he pitched -- that is our guy. I want him to get that attitude back.
I am such a baseball person. I am sitting in the lounge at the car dealership, CNN on the tv. They keep talking about George Zimmerman and I keep looking up like they are saying Jordan Zimmermann. Does that make me shallow? I am only interested in the latter Zman.
Re Cliff Lee to the Nats, it ain't gonna happen. In addition to the remainder of his 2013 salary, Lee's contract guarantees him $25M in 2014, $25M in 2015, and a $12.5M buyout of the 2016 club option. No other team is going to take on all of that contract. The Phillies will have to take back a huge chunk of it in order to move him, and they would not do that with another team in their own division since it would have them paying for a pitcher who would be facing them up to five times a season.
Thanks Gonat. Will give it a try next time.
Swami said:
"I want the Det with the mound presence of the WBC game he pitched...."
Sure, but can we have the Rockies hitting coach as well?
Re: Det, FP said in the first inning that the ump wasn't giving the low strike which his sinker requires. You could see Det's frustration early. To Davey's credit, he didn't mention this in his post-game interview so as not to single out the ump. He did imply that Det needs to throw more off-speed since good hitters feast on fast balls thrown 80-90% of the time. Zimmerman gets away with a high % of heaters but has more "movement" I guess.
Mule on errors:
Not all errors occur in lieu of outs.
In the case of Zimmerman's numpy, slow infield
roller, the ball was booted (literally) by the shortstop. While this might have been scored as a pure E6 (i.e. shortstop should have made the play to get Zim out at first, and zero RBI), instead it was scored as an infield hit resulting in one RBI. The scorer felt that the "boot" came after the 1B; hence no second RBI for Zim. However, since the error did not prevent an out, and additional runners were driven in later, the second (non-RBI) run was determined to have been earned and charged to the pitcher.
IIRC, Zim's curve and slider started playing a much larger role after his third or so start. He still brings the heat a lot, but not like he did early on. I think his first two or three outings were 90+% fastballs.
Det, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have evolved. I seem to recall that he was starting to get hit more in the two or three starts before he went on the DL.
d'grvii 8
I think Lee is well worth the money and risk as he is still a top 5 pitcher in the league. The Phills aren't eating any of his salary. In fact to get him you will need to give up serious young talent close to major league ready. The Nats don't have that and in addition the Phills won't trade him to a team in their own division. Not gonna happen.
Mrs. B.
As I said in my previous post there is no way we are getting Cliff Lee. On the other hand we probably could get someone like Ricky Nolasco or Matt Garza. But; are we willing to give away a Taylor Jordan?
Actually, our hitting coach didn't do too bad==> I expect he advised Solano to ambush Brothers on the first pitch. Or if he didn't someone did.
I said in my post, Det was unlucky with that .467 BABip. On the other hand, he was lucky that both homers were solos. Stammen was the REALLY unlucky one, as he gets charged with two inherited runners scoring.
Joe Seamhead said...
Wow. Danny Espinosa now has 24 strike outs in 40 AB's in Syracuse. That is a 60% ratio. Yikes!
I sure hope it's because he's retooling and/or reconstructing his swing from scratch!
Seriously. I really like Espinosa and it's terrible to see him struggling so badly. Really hope he can get it together.
MrsB loves the Nats said...
Love your tid-bits post Wonk... Its the things that make you say... Unh.. or ahhh.. i hadnt even realized that...
Thanks. (Although 95% of the credit must to "youjustcantpredictbaseball" and "prospectus hit list")
But, although this isn't a reason why I post them, they do often show the folly of the so-certain predictions that some folks like to make here. E.g., a few folks have said that the Nats will not ever have a 5-game winning streak this year -- and yet we see the Jays winning 11 straight, or the Marlins crushing the Giants/Cards/D-Backs. Or that we can't come back from a 2-0 deficit, even though we almost came back from a 7-0 deficit, with the big hit coming against a pitcher who has pitched in *31* consecutive games without allowing a run
I posted only after Nats were down 6-0 and said the issue was now can the Nats score at least 4 runs, they exceeded expectations, even though Desi was not ready for prime time yesterday.
still, the state of Nats is a sub 500 team, they are what their record says they are. One game a crappy hitter gets 3 hits like shark and a great hitter like Desi strikeouts twice, the next game Shark returns to being a terrible hitter and Desi hits...another game Det pitches worse than Haren (which Ii never thought possible).
bottom line, the 17 of 20 games at home that the Nats were going to make their move is down to 16 with first place Zona in town..
Espi is simply a prospect that did not work out...Nats need to trade him while he still has any viability as a player left...Rendon is going to be a super star, let Espi take his head case problems elsewhere and burden another manager and team, enough already!
Who's afraid of Arizona??? Cahill can pitch bad, he's done it many many times. Miley is NOT what he was last year when he was in the running for ROY. Corbin is hot, but we got Stras going against him. Just need three shutouts and one run of offense per game and we got this.
you may be right...I guess Gio pitches as well in this series...we only have 3 viable starters so Nats may win this series...I hope so
Mick,
You said they have to make their move in this 20 game stretch, that doesn't make it so. The bottom line is that the Nats are still within striking distance and there is lots of season left and Atlanta doesn't look invincible.
Let's just see what happens.
Eric, I'm so with you on Espinosa. At any rate, he is our backup SS, and a fine one at that. We lived with Cesar Izturis last year for a few weeks. I just hate to think that an all-glove no-hit SS is Danny's future.
Det lost me yesterday... he looked like a frighten rookie afraid to attack the batters...his performance was devastating to this team. Not Davey's fault at all...I am sure he is stunned as any one
"even though Desi was not ready for prime time yesterday."
Yeah, why can't that dude hit game-winning home runs more than 3 times in a week. What a bum!
JD - Yeah I dont think it will happen either (Lee to the Nats) but as we know, stranger things have happened... I expect the Nats to make a trade or 2 this year... I will be surprised if they dont...
"I just hate to think that an all-glove no-hit SS is Danny's future."
Likewise.
I think one of the reasons Rizzo signed Haren was because he could do so on a one year contract. I think he wants to be able to move up a top pitching prospect as a fifth starter fairly soon (within a year or two). Therefore, I don't think he would trade said top prospect for a pitcher like Cliff Lee.
I really am amazed at what the Blue Jays are doing... Good on them...
I feel terrible for Espi but he kinda bought this on himself... He needs to get the surgeries and fix everything, then chill out and get ready for next year...
Eric...you said that not me and I was making a point about inconsistency and why they are 500...Desi was not ready yesterday, that is not a cut down it is a fact
you can defend half ass baseball all you want but do not attack others with differing views
Any particular reason why Ohlendorf is being entirely passed over in the discussion for at least a stop gap 5th starter?
"you can defend half ass baseball all you want but do not attack others with differing views"
Nice nested, preemptive attack there, mick.
Ciao!
sjm coached my nephews and nieces...he was a hell of coach and was intense but kids loved him
Eric...no a response to your attack...whatever....
Eric said...
Any particular reason why Ohlendorf is being entirely passed over in the discussion for at least a stop gap 5th starter
now that is a great post and question..
why???
and coach...speak for yourself about age...LOL
Who knows? Taylor Jordan when the full nine on 6/13 and eight innings on 6/19 which is surprised scouts because that doesn't usually happen in an AA-game. The expectation was the Nats were stretching him out for a major-league stint. His stats are scary good.
Taylor Jordan
http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=P&sid=t547&t=p_pbp&pid=518863id=jordan001tay
Which attack would that be?
Actually, no, let me just layout how I see things unfolding with you on a regular basis:
1. Someone disagrees with you about something in an off hand way
2. You take it as an attack and in response mount an actual attack
4. You lecture the person who disagreed with you about attacking others for having a different opinions. And, you say you never attack unless attacked.
We'll see re: Ohlendorf, mick. It would be hard for me to believe Davey and Rizzo aren't at least considering him in the short term.
I suppose a lot of the talk has been about long term solutions, so maybe that's why his name isn't coming up?
what was #3 you skipped to #4?
Doh! Apparently I forgot how to count @11:36! Heh.
Eric, Davey said (or implied) that he wants at least one long-reliever in the BP and if it isn't Ohlendorf, then it's Stammen. Pick either one, they probably both "deserve" a start. If not for Mattheus---grrrr---he wouldn't need them both in there (Mattheus can go more than one inning).
that is the question on Ohlendorf...they gave Karns a few starts, why not him?
it would seem Stammen is more suited for long relief so Ohlendorf should be given a shot to be 5th
I think I'd pick Ohlendorf, NL. Stammen seems to do much better in emergency and long relief when he has to react to a situation rather than prepare for a game.
mick, looks like I owe you a beer re: my sequential failure ;).
Besides which, speaking of Arizona, there's this.
?????
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/06/24/heath-bell-is-still-the-diamondbacks-closer-for-some-reason/
maybe Nats are thinking to pick up a vet pitcher at deadline...that is the only explanation I can come with as to why Ohlendorf is not getting a shot
Eric....I will spot you a beer as well
This isn't from Boz, but same thought. Nats aggressively looking for a SP.
trades?
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/06/24/the-nats-are-being-aggressive-in-the-early-trading-season/
Glad to know that we have some respectable swimming coaches on here, as I am sure 99 percent are. It has been a tough year or two for DC area swimming news, and maybe skating too.
Interesting stuff, NL.
Right on, mick.
Our hosts have posted this question in a new post.
"I feel terrible for Espi but he kinda bought this on himself... He needs to get the surgeries and fix everything, then chill out and get ready for next year..."
I am more convinced than ever that Espinosa's shoulder is affecting his swing. He should have the surgery now.
He has always hit better from the right side than the left, so he could be more than a good field, no-hit SS if he is used to platoon with a leftie bats either in the IF or in the OF. He is athletic enough to play OF, has a great arm, plenty of speed, and is already great on going after fly balls hit over his head. He could be much better in that role than Kobernus, IMO.
But it is time for him to get his head straight and get healthy as a pre-requisite to anything else. I doubt that any GM is going to give up value for a guy who now has no power and is striking out at a 60% clip - in the MINORS. Even if it is not Danny's shoulder that is causing the problem, why would another GM take a chance that it is not the shoulder? I wouldn't.
If Danny can accept that Rendon is the future for the Nats at 2nd base, and if he can accept a reduced role as a utility player, I would bring him back next spring - AFTER he got his shoulder repaired, and ONLY if he had the surgery done. Even if he gets the work done, but refuses to accept the reality that he is Wally Pipp to Rendon's Lou Gehrig, then trade him next spring, when a healthy Espinosa could have more trade value than he does now, which is nada.
Danny could still have a very good career, if he is used to do the things he does best - defense and hitting right-handed.
"I feel terrible for Espi but he kinda bought this on himself... He needs to get the surgeries and fix everything, then chill out and get ready for next year..."
I am more convinced than ever that Espinosa's shoulder is affecting his swing. He should have the surgery now.
He has always hit better from the right side than the left, so he could be more than a good field, no-hit SS if he is used to platoon with a leftie bats either in the IF or in the OF. He is athletic enough to play OF, has a great arm, plenty of speed, and is already great on going after fly balls hit over his head. He could be much better in that role than Kobernus, IMO.
But it is time for him to get his head straight and get healthy as a pre-requisite to anything else. I doubt that any GM is going to give up value for a guy who now has no power and is striking out at a 60% clip - in the MINORS. Even if it is not Danny's shoulder that is causing the problem, why would another GM take a chance that it is not the shoulder? I wouldn't.
If Danny can accept that Rendon is the future for the Nats at 2nd base, and if he can accept a reduced role as a utility player, I would bring him back next spring - AFTER he got his shoulder repaired, and ONLY if he had the surgery done. Even if he gets the work done, but refuses to accept the reality that he is Wally Pipp to Rendon's Lou Gehrig, then trade him next spring, when a healthy Espinosa could have more trade value than he does now, which is nada.
Danny could still have a very good career, if he is used to do the things he does best - defense and hitting right-handed.
Speaking of medical advice ...
test
No need to rush Harper back. I, being a realist, don't see us winning any championship even with him in the lineup. Maybe next year.
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